On November 17th 2017 the Administration of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine hosted the 1st Steering Committee Meeting of the Twinning Project

On November 17^th 2017 the Administration of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine hosted the 1st Steering Committee Meeting of the Twinning Project.

The meeting was attended by the First Deputy Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Vasyl Servatiuk, project representatives, Twinning Project Leader Thomas Osterroth, EU representatives in Ukraine, representatives EUAM and EUBAM, as well as Acting Deputy Head of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine Myroslav Prodan. 

At the beginning of the meeting, the First Deputy Head of the State Border Guard Service Vasyl Servatiuk thanked the present audience for the realization of this project, and underlined that it would have a positive impact on accelerating the integration process of the State Border Guard Service into the European law enforcement field and would enhance the capacity to resist the current threats at the state border line.

«For the State Border Guard Service this project is of great importance towards being in line with European best practices and standards in further development of Integrated Border Management approaches for travel document verification and stolen motor vehicles detection. The joint work of all IBM subjects takes its utmost importance in it and in overall is an integral part of border security system. Within the framework of this project, Ukrainian border guards are intensifying their efforts of developing and implementing the best European innovations in Ukraine”, - was emphasized by Vasyl Servatiuk.

In this context, the State Border Guard Service also actively cooperates with the  FRONTEX Agency, the neighbouring border agencies of the EU countries, Moldova and Belarus, ЕUAM, EUBAM, IOM and OSCE.

 The Project Leader Thomas Osterroth headlined that three activities of the project held in the 1st quarter of the project were focused on research and analysis of the achievements under IBM Strategy in order to identify positive results as well as shortfalls and to create the solid basis for the implementation of all following activities. Mr. Osterroth also indicated that the first steps made the contribution to the building of trust and understanding between MS and BC Experts of the Twinning Project.

In his turn, the chief of the border control department Yuriy Lysiuk, who is responsible for the practical part of the Twinning project realization in the State Border Guard Service, briefed the audience on the main results achieved in the framework of the Twinning project. At the same time, he noted that the initiated project at the end of the last year cannot provide with the major outcomes yet, however, already now there are concrete drafts of the performed preliminary analysis of the Integrated Border Management Concept and Action Plan which affirms the further realization of the Twinning Project at the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. 

From the very beginning it was quite intensive work conducted with the European colleagues. First of all the introduction and research of the Integrated Border Management in Ukraine was done as well as the specifications of SBGSU activities and the role of other agencies (IBM involved subjects) were studied. Besides, open and transparent information in terms of problematic areas on implementation of EU best practices taking into account the unique situation on the border line was provided. Apart from all mentioned, the meeting of Virtual Contact Analytical Centre between relevant IBM subjects was held which the engagement of EU Twinning experts in it. During that meeting the final matrix of indicators of the Action Plan in further realization of the IBM Concept was presented. 

In addition, within a short period of time of the project realization it was managed to integrate measures of TWINNING into the daily activities of the border agency and to perform them effectively. Also within the framework of the project the preparation of the workshop on evaluation of UA legislation and comparison with EU best practice was organized which also involves the participation of the regional departments of the State Border Guard Service.

The last phase of the project in the past year was devoted to conduct legal analysis of the current legislation concerning the border control (including biometric control), detection of forged documents, stolen motor vehicles check, including legal instruments concerning the smuggling of the stolen vehicles.

It’s worth mentioning, that in the framework of the practical part of the project realization along with customs Twinning colleagues it is planned to visit one of the border check points whereas the innovative approaches on border and customs control have been already implemented. Also, for comparison purpose within some time the EU experts will be visiting the similar border check point which functions under the general conditions.